Oven appliances generally include a cabinet that defines a cooking chamber for receipt of food articles for cooking. The cabinet can also define an opening for accessing the cooking chamber. Certain oven appliances include a pair of doors rotatably mounted to the cabinet at the opening to permit selective access to the cooking chamber through the opening. Oven appliances having such doors are generally referred to as French door style oven appliances.
During certain oven operations or cycles, e.g., a cleaning cycle, access to an oven's cooking chamber is preferably restricted. During such oven cycles, the cooking chamber can reach high temperatures. In order to reduce the risk of potential injury, the oven's door(s) are locked in a closed position such that a user cannot access the cooking chamber.
Certain French door style oven appliances have a linkage assembly for transferring the motion of one oven door to the other oven door. Thus, a user can open and/or close both of the doors by urging one of the doors open and/or closed. To secure both doors in a closed position, certain French door oven appliances secure one of the doors in a closed position, e.g., using a latch. With one of the doors secured, the linkage assembly prevents the other door from opening. However, relying upon the linkage assembly to secure both of the doors in the closed position can be problematic. For example, a user attempting to open a locked door can place a great amount of stress upon the linkage assembly. Also, the linkage assembly can have an amount of slack that permits the doors to open at least partially and/or slightly in the closed position. Accordingly, an oven appliance with features for securing the oven appliance's doors in a closed position without relying upon the appliance's linkage assembly would be useful.
In addition, certain French door style oven appliances have a pair of latches. Each of latches is configured for securing a particular one of the pair of doors. However, using a pair of latches to secure an oven's doors in a closed position can also be problematic. For example, using a pair of latches can add to the cost and/or complexity of the oven appliance. Additionally, both of the latches must be activated in order to secure both of the oven's doors in the closed position. Accordingly, an oven appliance with features for securing the oven appliance's doors in a closed position without using a pair of latches would be useful.